Surround House 2: Monsters in the Orchestra

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We are committed to driving innovations in technology that enhance and expand the user experience. At the outset of 2013, we introduced the SurRoundHouse, an immersive experience of sights and sounds inspired by AMD CTO Mark Papermaster and the future of computing, Surround Computing. This vision was brought closer to reality through the innovation and technical acumen of Bill Herz, Sr. Fellow, Chief Multimedia Technologist, and his team of hardware and software engineers at AMD. At the time, Bill described SurRoundHouse as “a phenomenal exhibition of innovation in technology and in story telling techniques. It’s a new art form and portends the future of gaming."

True innovation does not end with the execution of an inspired plan, it evolves, it continues, it pushes boundaries. That is what we, at AMD are about, we are inspired to push the boundaries of what is possible today to inspire a greater tomorrow. Throughout 2013, AMD has continued driving the expansion of our vision of Surround Computing. The 2013 edition of SurRoundHouse brought the participant into the environment through the creation of a surrounding visual experience, enhanced with the use of Discrete Digital Multipoint Audio which allowed the user’s gaze to be guided through auditory cues, exactly as the hearing experience daily life. There was more opportunity for innovation to increase the immersion and enhance the experience. While the participant was completely immersed in the experience as an observer, we wanted to enable the participant to, well, participate. We wanted to allow the participant to direct the outcome of the story, not like a “choose your own adventure”, with prescribed options, but like life, where options are limitless and endless. Where the participant can determine what the experience is. And what better way to feel immersed in the experience as you set the path than through 3D, 360° gesture control.

Through the use of upcoming AMD hardware, the AMD Surround House 2: Monsters in the Orchestra experience will again combine sight and sound for a truly immersive experience, with gesture recognition enabling real-time control of the monsters in the orchestra. Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) features enable full, 3D, 360° gesture control while AMD TrueAudio technology processes the 32.4 channels of audio in an unbelievable experience of original artwork and music. The environment is created through surround projection created in a completely enclosed 30’ dome, enabled by the power of AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) compute cores.

This immense project is all powered by AMD technology including the upcoming AMD APU, codenamed “Kaveri” and AMD FirePro™ workstation graphics.